Please consider adding armor to the sparks vendors.

[Ris]

Hello!

This kind of comes from the Maat thread which touches on this issue, but I think if it has its own thread, maybe it will get some visibility and the devs might respond...^^;

Can we have armor added to the sparks vendors at all level tiers, or at least 50+?

A lot of relevant gear, simply no one is selling it....

[SMD111]

yes please

[Omen]

I was struggling with this issue as well when I created my new character. Adding armor to sparks would probably ease a lot of confusion. But I was using conquest points to purchase from my home nation 10-50 (but if your Warrior from Windy or a Mage from Sandy that isn't gonna help much )and wore AF gear 50-60 but 60-70 I had to use allied notes from campaign battles then 70-99 are from abby and onward. So they have non gil npc vendor options already available.

Armor from sparks tho would be a more convenient outlet maybe even gear from FoV could be nice and convenient to upgrade in the field.

[Ris]

[snip] 60-70 I had to use allied notes from campaign battles [snip]

That is kind of interesting, I didn't know that gave armor...

I don't know if I'm looking at the wrong gear lists or anything though, but when I have been trying to get stuff relevant for my job, it seems like at least a few key pieces of it are crafted only (quest stuff I can get, of course!)... which then goes back to the problem that no one sells them...

My Empyrean+1 set is OKish so I should be ok once I get to 85, but I'm sure that for some jobs, well, just like my AF is kind of useless, they'll have troubles in certain level ranges...

[Lithera]

The cobra stuff from windy is nice not 100% helpfull for smn. Get 50k buy the key item for dynamis and work on getting your relic. Also try and get help with the non solo fights for the avatars which can be done once a day. Can get 10k from each though if you haven't been already working on geting an evoker's ring then don't trade the whispers in to anyone but the guy with the lisp in Norg. If I remember correctly they are planing to add more armor to sparks

[Pixela]

People need to keep in mind that one of the driving factors in an mmo to keep leveling is to get that next cool armor or whatever, that almost does not exist anymore since the AH is barren.

Leveling gear, maat gear or whatever. Add some spark armor for leveling, it's needed and it's a good thing. Also make it rare so that people can put it on the auction house too.

[FrankReynolds]

People who love grinding levels the slow way should be ecstatic about grinding out low level gear too ;)

[Ris]

People who love grinding levels the slow way should be ecstatic about grinding out low level gear too ;)

Well if you're just sitting in abbysea going form 30 to 75+ in a night in your chocobo or goblin costume, have mission and CoP rewards already and an Empyrean set waiting for you... you don't really need gear, that's true...

But for those of us that still have to do limit breaks (even before maat some of them aren't easy...those NMs in LB2 are pretty nasty, for example...) and other quests and unlock stuff... having a way to get some relevant gear would be good....

[Crevox]

I had no issue gearing up a new character just opening the gold boxes as I leveled. I got plenty of good armor.

[Alhanelem]

+1 yes would vote again

[Economizer]

Can we have armor added to the sparks vendors at all level tiers, or at least 50+?

A lot of relevant gear, simply no one is selling it....

I'm inclined to agree (although definitely not because of Maat, and maybe not for sparks - low level characters would be wiser to start investing in chapters or something in my opinion).

But I have to ask, which specific gear do you want to see sold by an NPC? I'd like to see this idea expanded on, but without specific examples its harder to get behind.

[madmartin]

I had no issue gearing up a new character just opening the gold boxes as I leveled. I got plenty of good armor.

yes, not really needed, im also killing nms for some good armor!

[Mizuno]

To some extent this would help, however as the levels get higher, the gear gets more varied. There's no "Standard" and thus SE will have a hard time figuring out what sets to add in.

[Kensagaku]

Two things on this:

First, I agree with adding some sparks armor. If it's added, hoour wever, I'd like it to be "basic" gear - i.e. for light armor you'd get Brass Harness, Bronze Harness, Beetle Harness, Leather Vest, etc which is all decent in terms of defense for their level but has no additional bonuses. This is because this is just stuff you pick up as you go, compared to stuff that has to be put together. Which brings me to my second point.

I know people are probably getting tired of me being on my soapbox about this point, but the whole "no one is selling the gear I need" is sort of a weak argument. Why? Because you can get the materials yourself and shout for a crafter. If you're willing to buy the finished product off of the AH, then why wouldn't you buy the pieces and get someone to make it? Takes the crafter no time so they'd rarely say no, and there's almost always tons of materials on the Auction House. I mean, I've been getting stuff crafted for my mule's NIN as I've leveled him; stat boosting rings, Haubergeon, Scorpion Harness, katanas, etc. Sure, I've bought some pieces directly off of the AH when they're up, but there have been times I've just had to get some purchases and hand 'em over to someone - either shouted or LS - and gotten them made. Even if it's not on the AH, it doesn't mean the item exists; it means you have to just spend a little gil and a little more time looking up the recipe, and you'll still end up with the same result.

[Ris]

I'm inclined to agree (although definitely not because of Maat, and maybe not for sparks - low level characters would be wiser to start investing in chapters or something in my opinion).

But I have to ask, which specific gear do you want to see sold by an NPC? I'd like to see this idea expanded on, but without specific examples its harder to get behind.


yes, not really needed, im also killing nms for some good armor!

To answer these and Crevox's posts at once--some gear is crafted only. I didn't include specific examples of stuff I'm watching the AH for because I didn't want the discussion to get derailed on specifics that don't really matter much (which happens a lot on forums everywhere), and I think this applies to people on other jobs than what I'm working on.

But since these items aren't getting made, I think there should be alternative to getting them. Maybe not sparks necessarily, but something. I did think about leveling some crafts but with the 40 point limit I wouldn't be able to make everything I need anyway...



Two things on this:

First, I agree with adding some sparks armor. If it's added, hoour wever, I'd like it to be "basic" gear - i.e. for light armor you'd get Brass Harness, Bronze Harness, Beetle Harness, Leather Vest, etc which is all decent in terms of defense for their level but has no additional bonuses. This is because this is just stuff you pick up as you go, compared to stuff that has to be put together. Which brings me to my second point.

I know people are probably getting tired of me being on my soapbox about this point, but the whole "no one is selling the gear I need" is sort of a weak argument. Why? Because you can get the materials yourself and shout for a crafter. If you're willing to buy the finished product off of the AH, then why wouldn't you buy the pieces and get someone to make it? Takes the crafter no time so they'd rarely say no, and there's almost always tons of materials on the Auction House. I mean, I've been getting stuff crafted for my mule's NIN as I've leveled him; stat boosting rings, Haubergeon, Scorpion Harness, katanas, etc. Sure, I've bought some pieces directly off of the AH when they're up, but there have been times I've just had to get some purchases and hand 'em over to someone - either shouted or LS - and gotten them made. Even if it's not on the AH, it doesn't mean the item exists; it means you have to just spend a little gil and a little more time looking up the recipe, and you'll still end up with the same result.

I've seen those shouts sometimes... seems like it's pretty pricey to get a crafter's attention, like it'd cost a lot more to do it that way than buy on the AH, if only the AH was stocked... And of course, that assumes a crafter with the right primary craft and support crafts is even available, which might be why those seem to get ignored sometimes...

I know it's not much to endgamers that can solo farm those dynamis or salvage things but to lower level players those aren't open yet.

And to add one last thing... even getting materials can actually be kind of sketchy. There's stuff I've look for that aren't finished products and you have to be kind of lucky to find it in stock. Even stuff for like the gobbie bag quests is hit and miss

[Raydeus]

For the longest time I've been saying that all NQ craftable gear should be available from vendors and at a decent price. Both in case people stopped crafting the gear and to serve as an upper cap for prices at the AH.

Nowadays though... I've been leveling my mules and I can say there just isn't much need for low level armor anymore. You can level up solo very quickly as long as you have a decent weapon and trusts, and having the gear would only ever so slightly increase your survivability and killing speed. Not to mention you already get tons of gear from coffers while killing mobs for GoV pages.

I wish this had been implemented 7 years ago, but nowadays it just wont make much of a difference.

[Bebekeke]

I just beat Maat on my mule. It's not quite the same as beating him on your main the first time around, but it was still somewhat difficult (I went 1/2, fighting MNK at lvl 70).

I say it's not the same as beating him on your main, because I sent my mule a boxer's mantle, Cobra feet and a black belt from my main (I was gutted that I couldn't send my Rajas Ring!), but the rest of my gear I got on the mule.

Initially I was using an emp hairpin that I had camped on my mule, and a scorpion harness that I paid over the odds for on the AH when one finally popped up. After the first loss I swapped to Arhat's +1 for the PDT. I also used counterstance, 2nd time around so not sure which helped more.

Hands were my biggest issue though. I ended up wearing velvet cuffs. I couldn't get hold of anything with any useful stats on them.

The only thing that was really expensive was the Toreador's ring (900k) which I used to replace the Bastokan ring I wore for the first attempt.

The other way to get equipment is of course to gather the materials for the item you want crafting, then shout for someone to craft it for you.

[Xantavia]

I've seen those shouts sometimes... seems like it's pretty pricey to get a crafter's attention, like it'd cost a lot more to do it that way than buy on the AH, if only the AH was stocked... And of course, that assumes a crafter with the right primary craft and support crafts is even available, which might be why those seem to get ignored sometimes...
If you think the shouts seem pricey, it might just be the items people are asking for. If it is something that sells on the AH for 5 mil, sure the crafter is going to want more than 5k from somebody. But if you gather all the mats yourself and offer close to what it sells for on the AH, I don't think you will have too many problems. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've had crafters not even want my money since I was asking for some unusual or basic quest item.

[vienne]

Why not consider tabs to acquire NQ lower lvl gear instead of sparks? Make them sellable through the Ground/Fields tome so people can keep lvling instead of going back to town to get new gear. I've never had much trouble with gear since I still have all my old gear from in ye' olden days but I can imagine all the semi-naked players out there.

[bungiefanNA]

You don't have to be geared perfectly to beat Maat. If you do the regional RoE objectives, and open brown chests from FoV/GoV then you get a lot of armor you can wear for the fight. That's why they added that stuff to the game, since the AH is not worthwhile for selling low level gear anymore.

[Olor]

I'd support this. I also like the idea of adding more basic gear to vendors and to GoV tabs

[Spectreman]

They could also make all those stupid events nobody does anymore to get you a set of armor at the end from tiers 1-70. Instead of useless gear with 1-2 defense for show off.

[Olor]

eh, I don't think event gear is the way to fix it... but I would like to see events give out things with slightly more useful quirks. I'd actually do them if they had teleports to exotic places on them (for example). A ring with 5 charges that directly teleported to Xarcabard [s] for example would be ace. Or something like the ducal guard's ring to teleport directly to castle adoulin. Doesn't have to be game breaking but something a person could actually use would be cool. They did it with the nation scarves, not sure why it couldn't be expanded.

[Grekumah]

The team is looking into adding mid-level armor to Records of Eminence in a future version update, but I’m not able to give you a specific time frame at the moment.

[Demonjustin]

The team is looking into adding mid-level armor to Records of Eminence in a future version update, but I’m not able to give you a specific time frame at the moment.Thank you for currently having plans.

I know that's a bit snarky, but... I feel it needed said.

[mattkoko]

Wow it is like the dev team finally gave permission to Grekumah to give good news for a change. For a while there, I thought they were just using Grekumah as the decoy to get the verbal crap beaten out of him by the player base.

[Malthar]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
They have plans?!

[Kraggy]

But for those of us that still have to do limit breaks (even before maat some of them aren't easy...those NMs in LB2 are pretty nasty, for example...)
I abandoned a 70 PLD due to a complete lack of any post-50/55 gear on the AH and no other way for me to get it.

Just a comment on LB2, Trusts make it trivially easy now, simply take a PLD/WAR, aggro the mob, let the Trust PLD Provoke then run past and get the ??? then run away, eventually the Trust will disengage anf follow .. SE made those always active some time ago so you no longer have to defeat the mob before it spawns.

[Kraggy]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
They have plans?!
LMAO!

Yeah, I re-read that a couple of times before I realised the word no wasn't there.

[Omen]

The team is looking into adding mid-level armor to Records of Eminence in a future version update, but I’m not able to give you a specific time frame at the moment.

This is good news indeed. Thanks for the update Grekumah

[Ris]

The team is looking into adding mid-level armor to Records of Eminence in a future version update, but I’m not able to give you a specific time frame at the moment.

I'm glad to hear it's on the radar... Thanks!


Just a comment on LB2, Trusts make it trivially easy now, simply take a PLD/WAR, aggro the mob, let the Trust PLD Provoke then run past and get the ??? then run away, eventually the Trust will disengage anf follow .. SE made those always active some time ago so you no longer have to defeat the mob before it spawns.

That's eventually what I had to do... even in that short time those mobs wrecked my bodyguard pld/war though.

[Bebekeke]

I abandoned a 70 PLD due to a complete lack of any post-50/55 gear on the AH and no other way for me to get it.

A somewhat strange comment; PLD was 1 of the few jobs that could still wear full AF at lvl 70+. Thinking about it, there was very little gear for PLD that was bought from the AH at all. AF/Relic/AF+1/Koenig/Homam... all r/e.

[Mhakaracca]

Having recently re-started playing FFXI, I feel the need to chime in and echo the sentiments I'm feeling/seeing. I really love a lot of the new features that have been implemented; RoE is pretty legit. However, there is practically NO low-level armor or weapons to use. Any weapons I've gotten have been from RoE and, while I'm glad they're available, the Dev Team could've added more interesting choices or new weapons altogether. I know that's a backwards concept in this apparent rush-to-the-end-game-content era, but some of us are casual players for one reason or another, and I'd just like to be able to have decent weapons and armor from the low-levels on.

This game has changed a lot; It's so much faster to do anything, but so much momentum has left the world of levels 1-98 very desolate. Implement something soon, please.

[Glamdring]

while this is not a big concern of mine-I buy NPC armor, then use Conquest Points or get AF until relic or aby gear until 99 when I can jump straight to 117 sparks armor-it's nice to see a yes response for a change here.

[Pixela]

Maybe consider adding some armors for or change the Brygid quest in abyssea, getting those armors these days when nobody crafts them is hellish.

[Kensagaku]

Maybe consider adding some armors for or change the Brygid quest in abyssea, getting those armors these days when nobody crafts them is hellish.

*pulls out his usual soapbox* If you want something no one crafts, why not get the materials and shout for a crafter? Crafting depends on several factors, one of which is demand. There is very little demand for lower-level gear, as most of the game is endgame these days. That means there is little value, and that crafters are wasting their time and money on something that's likely going to go back to their delivery box. However, by providing the first step - paying for materials for something that has value to you, but not for them - and then speaking with them, taking no more than a few minutes of their time, you can usually get an item crafted quickly. If the materials aren't on the Auction House? Go farm them. Farm the base components and have someone craft them if they're materials to make further materials.

While I don't mind the inclusion of some mid-level gear, as it would handy at times to be able to just get NQ basic armor and go rather than spending your time, a lot of the "no one crafts what I want!" argument anymore just turns into the "I don't want to spend my time to get X made, they should spend THEIR time getting X made!"

*Puts away his soapbox*

[Lithera]

Along with the ability to get a lot of armor sets just by killing regular monsters. i don't know how many lower level nq gear pieces I have just tossed while leveling up other jobs along with low level scrolls of spells I already know. Which a new player could sell to get some gil so they can go out and buy the few nq gear from the npcs that sell up to at least 45. Even if it's bought from a guild.

[Ris]

snip!

Couldn't that same argument be used against having a sparks vendor at all?

Then ask yourself why we have a sparks vendor... and I think that should answer your post...^^;

Really I think it's very nice of them that they put an i117 set in there so you can at least have something decent when you get to 99 and want to then start on endgame stuff. And... a some time they're going to (pretty generously IMO) extend that to mid levels too, so at this point I don't really have any complaints.

It will be interesting to see what FFXIV's market board looks like in its sunset years...

[Economizer]

I know that's a backwards concept in this apparent rush-to-the-end-game-content era, but some of us are casual players for one reason or another, and I'd just like to be able to have decent weapons and armor from the low-levels on.

I think the campaign gear might be entirely your speed, especially if you level a lot in campaign - which can be done with Trusts.

Of course, if campaign still doesn't allow skillups you might find you have to level your skills outside of campaign occasionally too. Considering the sparks books, perhaps campaign could at least give skillups to level 75 caps.

As a player in another thread posted:


DD mage gear (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Cobra_Unit_Robe_Set)
Light DD gear (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Cobra_Harness_Set)
Heavy DD gear (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Brunne_Set)

Lowering the medal evaluation times might help newer players too.

[kylani]

*pulls out his usual soapbox* If you want something no one crafts, why not get the materials and shout for a crafter? Crafting depends on several factors, one of which is demand. There is very little demand for lower-level gear, as most of the game is endgame these days. That means there is little value, and that crafters are wasting their time and money on something that's likely going to go back to their delivery box. However, by providing the first step - paying for materials for something that has value to you, but not for them - and then speaking with them, taking no more than a few minutes of their time, you can usually get an item crafted quickly. If the materials aren't on the Auction House? Go farm them. Farm the base components and have someone craft them if they're materials to make further materials.

While I don't mind the inclusion of some mid-level gear, as it would handy at times to be able to just get NQ basic armor and go rather than spending your time, a lot of the "no one crafts what I want!" argument anymore just turns into the "I don't want to spend my time to get X made, they should spend THEIR time getting X made!"

*Puts away his soapbox*

As a crafter, this was my first thought as well. I used to craft low level gear to put on the AH because I saw threads about how hard it was to get, and it would just sit there and not sell even at 10 gil a piece. When folks yell for a crafter, and I can make something for them, I love it. I'll craft for free. I just enjoy crafting, and it's nice for it to be useful.

However, crafters aren't always on or on and available/willing to make stuff, so I do feel for folks who want/need something and can't find a crafter to get it made. I can remember my son needing the black turban for pup and helping a kinmate skill up goldsmithing to make it because we couldn't get one on the AH. I can remember needing something and looking up who sold several on the AH and searching for them to online so that I could ask if they could make it for me. I don't recall anyone not seeming as excited as I was that they could make it for me. It was part of the game, and it felt great to finally get the item, but I don't think it's very good for the folks in need.

Even though I'd craft whatever I could for someone who wanted it, there is an awful lot of good gear that drops from NMs, so if someone really wants to experience the game, I'd probably suggest hunting an NM to get some good gear over buying crafted anyway. Besides the obvious leaping boots that last forever, there are mobs that drop wands, capes, etc, and I'm not sure new players realize how much is available, and it's fun to get a good drop from a mob. :)

Much as I want crafting to be needed/necessary, I think it is better in general for folks to be able to get things they need for quests a bit easier. The purist in me feels like there should be some work to complete the quest for that feeling that comes from earning something, but it seems like that part of the game has changed. So many other things have changed for the better, I can't really complain, but crafting isn't what it once was. I still love it, but I'm crafting mostly for me and my mules, and the consumables that do still sell until they start being available from a vendor.

[Olor]

I've actually found most of the armor I find in chests and put up on the AH sells, and it sells for a decent penny considering it isn't very good. I mean it isn't enough to fund my BST's pet food bill or anything but people are willing to pay several thousand gil for items that are really not very good. So I think it wouldn't be unreasonable to add, say 9 sets (mage, light, heavy X3), one at level 30, one at level 50, and one at level 70. After that it gets easier to gear, and before that most people (including me) use the chocobo shirt/hat and w/e else since everything is SO SQUISHY.

[Apie]

I abandoned a 70 PLD due to a complete lack of any post-50/55 gear on the AH and no other way for me to get it.

I don't understand this mentality. When I come across this problem, I use old rare/ex gear and if I don't have it, I go kill the NM and get it. There are many NMs with very high drop rates and even 100% drop rates for gear/weapons. Go spend sometime with any online site that lists all the gear. Then check out all the rare/ex gear that you will need (pick multiple per gear slot, like 4-5 hand pieces.) Research each handpiece, by which I mean check who drops it, then check drop rate, then check NM pop conditions. Compare all the results and then you have a working gameplan as to how to gear your job.

Or wear crappy gear since the trusts will do most of the work for you, you won't need amazing gear, you won't even need decent gear.

I am a synther, multiple crafts and multiple characters (1 has a 100 craft and one has a 95 craft and they both have many lvl61-65 crafts as well.) So I noticed the lack of gear on the auction house, so I made it a point to make many types of gear, for many levels and in good quantities so I can keep the auction house moving (and make decent gil while I'm at it.) Want to know the end result? Tens of Thousands of gil spent on auction house fees, next to nothing sold and I was left with countless mules stuffed with gear/weapons that nobody was buying. I had to sell to the NPC tons and tons of gear/weapons. There is just no demand to justify making the gear/weapons. Selling a body piece once every 2 months for 2-3K barely covers the auction fees of constantly putting it up again.

I have 18 characters and I put up auctions only on weekends, I have 7 things up per character and countless items waiting to be sold after the ones up sell. Every Tuesday when I check the delivery box to see what has sold, at most I sell 4 items, but usually it's 1-2 with some characters selling nothing. I have all types of things up, from crafting supplies to gear to quest items to food/medicines and everything in between. I offer it all and the only things that actually sell are synthing supplies and I don't mean all of them...

[mattkoko]

I think the campaign gear might be entirely your speed, especially if you level a lot in campaign - which can be done with Trusts.

Of course, if campaign still doesn't allow skillups you might find you have to level your skills outside of campaign occasionally too. Considering the sparks books, perhaps campaign could at least give skillups to level 75 caps.

As a player in another thread posted:



Lowering the medal evaluation times might help newer players too.

I believe in the march version update, they did indeed make it so players can now skill up in campaign. Just figured I would step in for you there :). Which on a side note is kind of funny considering a couple years ago, they went out of their way to make it so you can't skill up in campaign at all (for a while you use to be able to skill up with out getting the tag, until they banned skilling up on campaign mobs all together).